The Stupidest Way
by Mrs.AmberMalfoy
Summary: Love potions really annoy Hermione. She thinks it's stupid that an after affect of it can be real love. But Draco is hell bent on showing her that it really isn't the stupidest way to fall in love.


**A/N- This is my attempt sort of cute one-shot for the sake of Valentines Day. Yeah, I know, it's a tad bit late for that, but I was busy and I'm super lazy. The inspiration for it comes from this kid at my school who kept weirding me out. Thanks kid. **

**And also, I've added **_**Lame Guest**_** into this story. Sorry, but I did say that I might just end up dumping you somewhere because I have zero way of contacting you. I'm sure you'll find that your name in this story sounds quite a bit like your pen name. And I'm also assuming you're a girl.** **Which you probably are. But no offense if you're a guy. And no offense again if you don't like your character. Sorry!**

* * *

Love potions. They were the main thing revolving around Hermione Granger's thoughts at the moment. She was cursing the instant that the first one was ever invented. They caused unrealistic reactions in people and almost always ended in a mess for anyone and everyone involved. At the moment, Ronald Weasley was under the effects of _Amortentia _given to him by a girl named Lane Goss. He would not stop yammering on about how pretty she was. What was most surprising to Hermione though, was that he had hardly touched the food in front of him. Most days he would stuff his face - not caring about all the people in the Great Hall watching him eat like a pig - but that day he had all but forgotten about it.

Ron stared straight at Lane who was sitting with her house at the Ravenclaw table. This act made Hermione's blood boil. It wasn't even real love! Not even an infatuation! It could hardly be called a crush!

And yet he still gazed at the Ravenclaw. His eyes still had a strange glassy sheen to them making it seem as though he wasn't completely focused. His lips were still smiling stupidly. His cheeks still burned when she smiled back at him. His plate was still untouched.

"Are you going to eat anything, mate?" Harry asked him, "You're going to be hungry later."

"All I want is Lane," Ron answered simply.

"This is sick," Hermione snapped. "It's a love potion for crying out loud!"

Her friends gaped at her in awe. They had rarely heard her lose calm. It was practically a fact of nature that she always be the sensible and composed one in any situation.

"I'm sorry guys, I just feel a bit-"

"Jealous?" Draco Malfoy's low voice drawled from behind, surprising them.

"I was going to say stressed," she frowned.

Bumping Neville right out of his seat next to her, Draco slid onto the bench. He didn't look in the least happy about sitting there, but remained seated in silence for a few seconds while all the Gryffindors - save Ron who was still watching Lane intently in hope that she might look at him again - stared.

"What do you want Malfoy?" Ginny inquired.

"I'm taking a survey for Valentines Day for Professor Snape," he answered, "It's for students' safety - orders from Dumbledore. He told me to ask people who aren't entirely stupid, so everyone here except for Granger can turn around and get on with whatever it is you do." But nobody looked away, so he sighed, annoyed, and said, "This is confidential, by the way."

There was still no reaction from his classmates, which upset Draco greatly. If there was one thing he hated, it was daft Gryffindors who couldn't take a hint. He took a deep breath to keep his cool from slipping, his jaw clenching in impatience, and his hands in fists. Before anyone knew what he was doing, he took Hermione's wrist and led her out the doors and into the hallway.

She was too surprised to think about pulling her hand away. Her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. "I really doubt that this survey thing is so important that you need to take me away from my friends."

"It's not, but I couldn't be near them any longer."

"So you needed to bring me with you?"

"I wasn't thinking about that," he explained, eyes tightening, "I just grabbed you on impulse."

She nodded, but a part of her didn't actually believe him. "Ask away."

He let go of her arm and pulled out a notepad and quill from a pocket in his robe scribbling away on the paper as he spoke. "Do you know how to brew any love potions?"

"Yes."

"How many have you made for any specific person before?"

"One," she answered, making him smirk and raise an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that."

"Have you made any in the past three months? Or snuck it into someone's food?"

"No."

Hermione saw a flash of emotion run through Draco's eyes. Frustration? Confusion? What had she said to make him feel anything significant?

"You better have been truthful in this," he warned. "And besides," he started, his mood appearing to lighten, "Doesn't Weasley like honest girls?"

Her eyes widened for a quick second, but not fast enough that Draco couldn't catch it. After she got over the initial shock of someone knowing about her secret crush on her best friend, she glared at him mercilessly, cold and hard. Then sighed and looked down, remembering the stupid potion Ron was suffering from.

As if he could read Hermione's mind, Draco said, "It's not permanent, Granger. I doubt that Goss girl could have made enough _Amortentia_ for a large dose successfully."

"I don't care about _who_ it's given to," Hermione lied, "It's just that I think it's a dumb way to get someone to like you. What's even stupider is that the person can sometimes actually fall in real love because of that darn concoction."

He lifted his pencil to his chin and tapped it lightly, pretending to be contemplating something. With an eyebrow lifted and a knowing expression, he stated, "That is not the stupidest way to fall in love." And he started back into the hall and to his Slytherin table, brushing lightly against Hermione along the way.

"Then what is?" she called after him, exasperated.

He didn't answer.

She sighed and followed Draco's lead back into the Great Hall. As she took her spot on the bench in between Neville and Ron, she heard the sound of a paper crunching. She curiously reached into her pocket - where the noise was coming from - and pulled out a crumpled page of paper. When Hermione read what was written in it, she felt the need to keep it hidden even though to anyone else it wouldn't make sense. She didn't want people to know because she knew who it was from and she didn't want anyone to ask questions. Hermione wouldn't know how to answer them.

_I will show you the stupidest way._

* * *

There were only a few days left until Valentines Day. It had been over a week since she had found the note Draco had given her in her pocket, and it was the only thing she could think of. Hermione was going mad trying to figure out what he was going to do, when he was going to do it. Of course, if he meant to make her fall in love - however ridiculous the notion - then he would most likely try to get that done before the fourteenth of the month. If he literally tried to make people fall in love to show her, then it would still probably happen before Valentines Day. Obviously, she would have watch out for whatever it was he wanted to do.

And he made it easy to be on lookout by always being near her. Whether it was coincidental or not, Draco had been around her a lot more than usual lately. He watched her constantly which didn't fail in making Hermione self conscious. Sometimes, when she couldn't handle his ogling anymore, she would sneak a peak at him. He would smirk his Malfoy smirk and she would look away.

She contemplated this as she walked through the busy halls, making her way to her next class. The only thing that pulled her mind out of its daze was the flash of blond-white hair walking by her.

Happy that he had caught her attention, Draco winked. It wasn't a friendly wink either, it was much more… suggestive than that. Hermione's eyes widened and jaw dropped in confusion. His ever-present smirk grew wider with the satisfaction of knowing that she understood.

"Why are you and Malfoy staring at each other?" Ginny asked, popping up beside Hermione out of nowhere.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione shook her head, trying to forget about what had just happened between her and Draco and continued walking.

"Well, Malfoy looked like he was trying to undress you with his eyes and you looked like you knew that he was trying to," Ginny smiled. "It was pretty interesting."

"Actually, it was extremely horrifying! I'm not sure what he's doing, but I don't want it to continue."

"But he's treating you like this right before Valentines Day! You're so lucky that he wants you this time in the year," she sighed. "It's so romantic."

"He's not who _I_ want though!"

But Ron hadn't been the one on her mind on her mind for the past week and a half. He wasn't the one she was puzzling over, because she knew him too well for that. Draco, though, was a mystery that she wanted to solve. A mystery she felt she _needed_ to solve.

And then she felt a rush of anger. It was because, being Hermione Granger, any mystery was just not acceptable. If she tried to stop thinking about Draco, there would always be a nagging feeling in the back of her mind telling her to try to understand.

"I'm sorry, Gin," she said tersely, "I've got to go."

* * *

While Professor Binns droned on about the History of Magic - things she'd already read about in the textbook, Hermione pictured Draco in her mind. She was trying to understand why so many girls threw themselves on him all the time. Sure, his lips looked really soft. Whatever if his hair was practically a magnet for all things female. Was it important that he had a really nice body?

Yet, even through all her denying, on her paper, instead of the notes she was supposed to write, was a heart with the initials _D.M. _inside it.

_Well, this isn't good_, Hermione started to mentally scold herself. She balled up the parchment into her fist, careful that no one - especially any Gryffindors - saw it. She didn't bother throwing it away yet, but stuffed into the pocket of her robe.

Thirty more mind-numbing minutes passed in which she tried - and for the most part - succeeded in concentrating on what Professor Binns had to say. It took all she had not to let her mind stray. In the end, it was futile, because _he _always seemed to find a way back in.

_Knock, knock._The door opened, revealing the guy on her mind all day long. Draco Malfoy.

"Professor," he drawled lazily, "I need Hermione Granger to come with me to meet with the Headmaster and some other prefects."

"Yes, yes," Binns nodded, pausing only a moment on his lecture. He motioned with hand for Hermione to go.

In a daze, she left her seat, books left sitting on her desk, her crumpled ball of paper still crammed into her pocket. She hadn't known about any meeting happening that day. They left the classroom, side by side.

"What's this meeting about, Malfoy?" she asked while they neared a hallway lined with empty classrooms.

"There is no meeting."

"But you just said-"

"It was an excuse to got you out of class."

"But- I- That's- I could be missing what might be crucial information," she said desperately, turning back.

"I doubt it's something you don't already know." He rolled his eyes and grabbed her forearm to stop her from heading back. "Don't go."

"Why not?" Hermione felt a thrill go through her as he held her to the spot. Despite what her brain had been sensibly reasoning earlier, her body couldn't stop reacting.

He hesitated, "I pulled you out for a reason, you know."

"Yeah, you wanted to annoy me."

"No!" He ran his hands through his fair hair and said, almost like an afterthought, "Merlin, for a supposedly smart person, you sure are daft."

"You aren't telling me what I'm doing here and I have no clue! How does that make me stupid?"

"Not about that!" he sighed in frustration, "I've been dropping hints everywhere, woman! For crying out loud, just put it together!"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about! Don't blame me for your vagueness! Not everything is my fault!"

"This time, I think it is your fault." They weren't screaming, but the intensity in their voices made it seem worse. "You. Won't. Stop. To. Think." With each word Draco took a step closer to her.

"I've been thinking about this ever since I got your - unsurprisingly - vague note!"

"Then why haven't you figured it out?"

"What? Figured what out?"

He pushed Hermione against the wall and put his arms on either side of her, efficiently trapping her against him. After a moment, he asked, "Are you thinking yet?" His voice was pleading and his gaze feeling like fire on her skin. He leaned his head closer to hers, leaving only an inch of space in between. His arm shifted so that she still couldn't leave run off, but he could brush his finger against her jaw line. "Tell me you know. I don't think I can say it yet." He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against her shoulder.

"Don't…know…" she trailed off, afraid if she said anything else it would sound like a garbled mess. His close proximity was affecting her train of thought.

In the long silence that ensued, neither of them moved an inch. Hermione found that she enjoyed the feeling of Draco's breath on her neck. His soft hair rubbed against her cheek and she wanted to touch it, but because of the fact that her arms were still trapped at her sides, she couldn't. There was also a fear that if she did, he would move away. As much as she hated to admit it, that was something she didn't want to happen.

But he withdrew his hand, his arm, and stepped away from her. His expression was one of rare patience and there was a certain happiness to it that Hermione had never seen before.

"I'm going outside. Come with me," Draco urged.

"I can't," she argued weakly. "I don't skip class."

"Just this once. I promise you'll still have the best grades if you miss only one class."

"No. I'm not going," she declared, more firmly. "I will not be influenced badly by the likes of someone like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You. You're a Slytherin. I won't ditch class for a Slytherin," Hermione said, regretting it the moment she it came out of her mouth.

His mood immediately shifted from kind and tender to cold and hard. He took several steps away from her and scowled.

"Well, answer me this at least." He put his hands into his pocket. "Do you still love Weasley?"

Did she still love him? Of course she did. She still loved him with her entire being. Except, for some reason, Lane Goss wasn't bothering her nearly as much as she should have been and Ron's 'cute' habits weren't at all as endearing to her as they once were. That didn't have to mean anything though.

"I- yes. I do."

Draco took a deep breath and nodded his head. He looked hurt and vulnerable for such a short time, that Hermione wasn't sure if it was her imagination.

"Fine. Okay. You can go back to class then, Granger."

She hurried away. She didn't get to see Draco opening the paper he had pulled from her pocket. He figured it would be a nice memento of the time they shared that day. When he saw his initials on it, he knew that it would be the best keepsake he would ever own.

* * *

Hermione had spent the week mostly the same as always. The only difference was that Draco had been arguing with her much more than usual. In potions, they went back and forth arguing about everything, calling each other names, and overall causing a loud commotion. Snape took away fifty points from Gryffindor and none from Slytherin, claiming that she had started it all so she should get the blame for it. They both were assigned a detention cleaning in the trophies room. In the hallways, he purposefully passed her any time he could. He would say something insulting and Hermione would shoot right back at him.

The whole time, he seemed to enjoy it. It was obvious that he tried to hide it, but it was difficult not to see the amusement that always filled his eyes when they bickered about all those stupid things.

Not once did they mention what happened between them in that empty corridor. It wasn't something they could just start talking about in public. There would be yelling involved, yelling about things Hermione wasn't ready to let out to everyone just yet.

"You and Malfoy," Ron said while sitting with his friends in the shade of a tree, "What's going on?"

The love potion had mostly worn out, since it Valentines Day. He could think somewhat clearly now. Clearly enough to notice the difference in the behavior between her and Draco. It was supposed to wear off that day according to Lane. She had only wanted him to kiss her and in the time that he was under the potion, she figured he would. He had, and Hermione wasn't even slightly jealous. Upset, maybe, that he was still reacting under false desires, but not jealous of the kiss.

"Nothing. We've just been arguing more."

"That's not all. Ginny says you two have been sneaking each other secret looks." Harry added.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She really didn't, because other than their debating, Hermione didn't look at Draco at all. Instead, she imagined the way she felt and the way she shivered when he touched her.

"Mione, if you like him, just say it," Harry said, bluntly.

She did. She'd learned to accept that she had an infatuation with him. Still, it wasn't as though she was just going to say it. Not even to her best friend.

"I do. I think he can be great," Hermione admitted. "I mean, he's got a couple flaws in some places, but he's fine for the most part."

"Malfoy, though? Couldn't it be _anyone _else?" Ron pleaded.

"Sorry, but I don't know how to control these things. And it's not like I love him. It's just a passing phase, I'm sure."

She heard the grass lightly rustle behind her. It wasn't hard to guess who it was.

"Why, my sweet, I'm hurt that your faith in our relationship together could be so little," Draco smirked. "Potter, Weasley, go make out. I need to talk to Granger for a bit."

"Speak of the devil," Harry whispered mostly to himself. "What are you doing? You aren't welcome here, Malfoy. And I'm completely straight, by the way," Harry finished.

"Yeah!" Ron added.

The only thing that made them head back to the school, though, was that Hermione nodded her head, agreeing with Draco. She needed to talk to him. Privately.

Her friends picked themselves up and walked back into the school, glaring daggers at Draco and promising with their eyes that the conversation would continue later. They also clearly assumed that he wasn't going to do anything _too _bad to her. That or they believed Hermione was fully capable of hexing him to infinity.

"So you like me, do you?" Draco asked, an arrogant smile touched his lips.

"Well, what about you? The other day you shoved me into a wall and for a minute I thought you were going to ravage me."

"It was all part of an elaborate plan to get you to admit that you're in love with me."

She had no clue what he was talking about, but nodded her head and smiled. She really did find him entertaining.

Her faint smile faltered. "We're alone," she acknowledged, her voice almost cracking. It was finally sinking in, the fact that no one would be around if he were to try anything.

"You sound worried," he observed, "You don't need to be. I'll be good."

Hermione snorted in either suspicion and amusement, but she couldn't be sure herself. No person in their right mind would believe a Malfoy when they said that they would 'be good' for any span of time. "I somehow find that hard to believe."

"Granger, you have my word, I won't do anything dishonorable with you. Unless you ask, that is."

He moved his arm toward his pocket, reaching for something. It was the crumpled ball. "I took this from your pocket. A heart with my initials?" he laughed softly. "To be honest, this is my favorite drawing of all time. It's so simple, yet it has so much meaning. To me, at least."

Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "Is that why you weren't mad at me long? For writing what I did. Did you see that and automatically forgive me?" she sighed. "I'm sorry."

"I don't really care," he said. Draco walked up to the spot next to Hermione, where Harry had been sitting earlier and sat down. "Like I said, it was a part of my plan. You remember the note _I _gave_ you_? I was showing you what I promised. The stupidest way. But I was also a little upset when you couldn't get it into your thick skull what other people already assumed."

"I still don't understand. I wasn't kidding when I said that you're extremely vague."

Draco took a deep breath, to steady himself it seemed. "I feel… strongly for you. I… really like having you" -he cut off, irritated that he couldn't get himself to say it. "Oh, Merlin, this is useless. I love you, Granger. It's strange, but true all the same. I fell in love with you while we were arguing. I like seeing you get angry, because I like your passion. It draws me and I don't know how to resist it.

"That survey for Snape? I made it up so that I could have an excuse to ask if you put me under a love potion. Then I found out you didn't. It was infuriating because then I knew for sure that it was all _me._ I'm in love with you without any influence from anything else.

"I tried to tell you how I felt through that note. I was hoping you'd understand. It wasn't like I tried to hide what I felt for you! Like you said, I shoved you against a wall and nearly ravaged you. You didn't get the hint so I got angry. I wasn't ready to say that I love you and it would have been easier if you just found out on your own."

She smiled. This was definitely difficult for him to do since he had lived so long with people who weren't exactly openly affectionate. Now that he had found someone worth being emotionally attached to, it must have been hard for him to admit to it, seeing as he'd never done so before.

"I don't love you," his face fell. "I could hardly even tolerate you a few weeks ago, so give me some credit! I like you, though, and I'm willing to take a chance."

"That's good enough for now, I suppose."

He lifted her chin up to his face with his thumb and index finger, pulling her closer to his lips. "Kiss me," Hermione whispered. Draco complied happily.

Their lips touched softly and they melded together. She felt her body trembling as his hand guided her nearer to him and his fingers trailed lightly up and down her back. He licked her lips, slipping his tongue inside her mouth. Any self control Draco had before left him. He couldn't find it in himself be as gentle as he had been before, but kissed her hungrily. She didn't appear to mind, responding with just as much fervor.

"I think we'll do well together," Hermione panted when they broke a part.

"I could really get used to this," he agreed.

Then, randomly, Hermione smiled at a realization. "You know, Draco, you are an amazing pickpocket."

* * *

**A/N- I don't like the end. It seems too cheesy. **

**Anyways, do you like it? I hope you did! I spent so long writing this and trying to make it sound understandable. And because of all the effort I put into writing it, why don't you review and tell me what you think? Go ahead and flame me, if that's how you truly feel. I just want to know what you all think about it.**

**Also, if you favorite this story and don't review, I'll figure out a way to find you. And then I'll stab you in the shoulder. Just kidding. But really, just review.**


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